Sunday, October 21, 2012

Overcoming Fear

Do you ever get scared? Scared that you'll never write about that big shiny idea of yours? Scared that you'll never finish the writing? Scared that you won't know how to revise it or make it good enough?

It's okay if you do. Everyone does.

And don't think you're an exception if it hasn't happened yet. It will.

Those aren't the only fears either. There's a whole universe of them and everyone has different ones at different times. My current one? Losing NaNoWriMo.

I tell myself that it's unfounded. I felt it last year too and look how that turned out. Over 100k written and two finished first drafts. I've never even come close to losing.

But that doesn't keep me from being scared.

Mostly I think it's because I kind of bombed Camp NaNoWriMo. Didn't even get halfway done though I did do better than last year. And I haven't worked on OBJECTION much since, however much I said I was going to.

That changed today. I sat my butt in my chair, put my head phones in, and typed away for about an hour and a half. Even tried Write or Die. I ended up adding about 2300 words for a total of 26,025. And it feels good.

The fear has subsided a bit.

What is your most recent fear?

8 comments:

  1. Ah yes, the fear of failure is a well-worn hat that I have tried on many a time. About the only thing I can say is, fight it. It sounds to me like you've got a good handle on things.

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    1. Yes. I just have to remind myself that I can do it because I have done it. And have a good plan set out. That's always important. What I'm working on now.

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  2. Based on how you did last year, I'd say you have NOTHING to worry about! All the very best :-) Maybe one day when I'm not teaching I will attempt this challenge ;)

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    1. I say you're still doing pretty good for never having done the challenge. ;)

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  3. I'm feeling the same thing at the moment -- although as I've never tried nanowrimo before, my fears don't have the comfort of past success to fall back on. I'm also afraid of neglecting my other projects or feeling burned out at the end of the month.

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    1. Don't worry about your other projects. It's one month and it's not like you're not working. And don't be bummed if you don't win. You will have started something new and made serious progress on it.

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  4. I'm amazed you were brave enough to take on such a big project during school. Great that you don't let fear stop you.

    I've never attempted NaNo because I know it wouldn't work for me. I need time to stop and consider. If I had to squeeze in that many words a day, the rough draft would be too rough. I write about a novel a year with revisions. I'll have to let that be enough for me. Maybe one day...

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    1. And that's not bad. Think about it this way, I've never gone through a round of revisions. So even though I may write more than you, you are still closer than I am. :)

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